Bibliotherapy
by Snowcleo
Summary: A young jounin discovers an interesting new bookstore. Kakashi x Iruka
1. Booklover

The boy slowly pushed open the door of the shop and slipped through. Once in, he looked around hungrily. The warmly lit space was filled with shelves and every shelf was filled with books. He sighed with contentment as he stared at all the possibilities. Wandering through the shelves, he trailed his hand lightly over the bindings, lovingly caressing the bound stories.

He was thin and young, only in his early teens, but he had just made jounin and was eager to begin spending some of his new pay on books. From an early age he had loved to read. Since he'd been orphaned, he spent a lot of time alone. Reading helped stave off the loneliness and gave him something to do. He'd never been good at boredom.

As the boy walked through the bookstore, light gleamed on his pale skin and hair. He wandered deeper into the store, passing a small reading area with comfortable chairs. In a back corner several shelves were lined with books with garish orange covers. They caught the boy's eye and drew him in. He walked closer and picked one up.

Almost immediately after opening it, he dropped it as if it had burned his fingers. His face flushed bright red over the top of the dark mask he wore. The pictures in the book were, well, very interesting to a teenage boy who was just beginning to think of fun new uses for previously underutilized body parts. Slowly, his hands shaking, he bent and picked the book back up. Opening it to the middle, he was soon staring raptly at the pages, his ears glowing crimson. His concentration was so fixed on the pages that he didn't hear the soft footfall behind him.

"Need any help finding anything?" a voice said and the boy jumped, dropping the book again.

The man bent forward and picked up the book, turning it over to see the cover. Burning with shame at being caught reading such a thing, the boy began to stammer an apology. The man didn't seem to be listening, however. He was smiling down at the book in his hand. "Ah, yes, volume 15. That's a good one, but if you're going to do the thing right, you should really start with volume one. It's still my favorite." Reaching over, he plucked a book off the shelf and handed it to the boy. As the boy took it from him, he noticed that the man was missing the little finger and part of the ring finger on his left hand. A golden wedding band gleamed at the base of the stump.

The man was tall and thin, with white hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. A scruffy gray goatee covered his chin and an eye patch hid his left eye. When he shifted position slightly, the boy heard a strange sound. Looking down at the man's feet, he realized that the left one was artificial. The man's eyes followed the boy's down and he pulled up the edge of his pants to show off the prosthesis.

"It's a beauty, isn't it? Had it made special." He smiled fondly down at his artificial leg.

The boy stared back up at the man. "Were you a ninja?"

The man turned his smile on the boy. "Yep." He tapped the hitai-ate on the boy's forehead. "I see you are as well."

"Yes," the boy said proudly. "I just made jounin!"

"Really?" the man drawled, raising his eyebrows. "Well, then, I say that calls for something special." He reached back over to the bookshelf and removed another book. Pressing it into the boy's hands, he said, "Here you go. Icha Icha volumes one and two—on the house."

"Oh, I couldn't," the boy said, stunned.

The man chuckled as he watched the boy protest, but at the same time clutch the precious books tightly to his chest. "No, I insist. My way of supporting the honored ninja of Konoha. Thank you for the work you do." He bowed slightly.

"Oh, no, thank you! Thank you so much!" the boy said as he turned and left the store.

"Come back and visit us again!" the man called after him.

"I will, ojiisan, I promise!" The boy waved over his shoulder, so he didn't see the scandalized look that crossed the man's face.

"Ojiisan! I'm only 45!" The man slumped down in a chair by the cash register and hung his head. At the sound of a warm chuckle from the room behind him, he looked up and glared over his shoulder. "It's not funny! He called me grandfather!"

A tall, muscular man walked out of the office. His gleaming brown hair, slightly streaked with white, was pulled back in pony tail at the nape of his neck. The ends of it fell to his waist. Gold-rimmed glasses perched on his tan nose, just above a long scar which cut horizontally across his face. He walked over and laid a hand comfortingly on the thin shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi, I shouldn't laugh at you." A smirk began to stretch across his face. "I should really respect the elderly." Iruka broke off, laughing, and had to dance backward to dodge a swipe aimed at his head.

Grabbing the hand that was trying to smack him, he wrapped the arm around his waist and stepped in between Kakashi's legs, hugging himself to his lover. The white-haired man sighed and rested his head on Iruka's chest. His left hand snaked downward and he pinched Iruka on the butt, causing him to jump and start laughing again.

"Quit that! I'm heading into work, so I can't start anything right now," Iruka said with a mock-stern glare at Kakashi.

"Tonight, then?" Kakashi purred.

Iruka nodded and leaned down to kiss the smiling lips.

When they broke apart, Kakashi pushed Iruka back slightly and ran an appraising eye over him. The chuunin was dressed for dusty work, wearing an old uniform that had seen better days around the knees. "Finishing up final details before tomorrow?" Kakashi guessed.

"Yep, there are two new teachers who need last minute help finishing up their classrooms. Probably they're just nervous about tomorrow. I thought I'd help them out, see if I can talk the nervousness out of them."

Kakashi smiled proudly. "My Iruka-sama, principal of the Academy! Are you excited?"

Iruka blushed slightly. "I am, but I'm a little worried myself. I hope I'm up for the job."

"You'll do fine. You're the best teacher the Academy has ever had and you'll be the best principal, too. I know it."

"Thank you. It means a lot that you're proud of me."

Kakashi hugged Iruka tightly. "I've always been proud of you. Don't you forget that," he mumbled into the tan chest.

Iruka nodded numbly, a lump appearing in his throat. He wondered suddenly if Kakashi realized what day it was. As he held the wiry body of the man he loved, he felt the mutilated fingers of Kakashi's left hand rubbing over Mizuki's scar on his back. It had started aching as he had gotten older, but they had found that Kakashi could usually get the muscles to unknot with a little pressure.

They stood for a long time, enjoying the quiet morning time before the large rush of customers that usually began at mid-day. Suddenly Kakashi sat up straight and said, "Oh! I almost forgot! I have a present for you." Grinning over Iruka's protests, he wandered off to the back of the store, heading for the stairs and the attic storeroom.

Iruka watched him walk off, a slight limp the only clue to his injury. Five years ago today…


	2. A Routine Mission

It was a routine mission—hunting down a missing nin. Nothing Kakashi hadn't done many times before, but this time everything went wrong from the beginning. The missing nin was gifted at building wire traps, so Kakashi was forced to take things much slower than he usually did. When he finally caught up to her in a small clearing several miles from Konoha, she fought fiercely. Her mind had begun to go and Kakashi knew it would be a blessing for everyone concerned for her to die.

Unfortunately, Kakashi let his sympathy for her override a small portion of his customary paranoid caution, so that when she threw herself at him with a final, crazed burst of speed, he was momentarily caught off guard. Before he realized what was happening, she backed him into the last of the traps she had set. His foot sprang the trap and razor sharp wires shot toward him. A desperate twist to the right removed all of his body from the path of the wires—except for the lower part of his left leg and the last two fingers of his left hand.

The wires instantly severed his little finger and half of his ring finger. His leg was sliced off in pieces as a series of wires shot through it. Before the injuries had had time to register in his brain, the missing nin was on him. Kakashi slashed through her throat with a kunai, shoved the body to one side, and began pouring chakra into his damaged limbs, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Two things saved Kakashi's life. First, at the beginning of the search for the missing nin, he had summoned Pakkun and his other nin dogs to help watch for traps. When he saw that Kakashi was injured, Pakkun ran for help immediately, not waiting around for the order, saving vital seconds. Second, panicked by the severity of his master's injuries, the little dog headed straight for the first person he thought of—Iruka. Luckily for Kakashi, Iruka was with Tsunade and Sakura, planning first aid lessons for the Academy's advanced classes. Taking one look at the blood-splattered and terrified dog, Tsunade yelled that she would get medics and follow and then she transported Iruka and Sakura to Kakashi's side.

Iruka had seen terrible things in his life, but nothing would ever compare with the sight of that clearing. The leaves and grass were drenched in blood. Bits of flesh were everywhere. Kakashi had fallen off to the side and, after looking at his injuries, Iruka realized that the bits of flesh were the remnants of Kakashi's leg.

"He's alive, but his chakra is almost gone. Help me!" Sakura shouted and Iruka joined her in pouring chakra into the damaged man. The flicker of chakra remaining in Kakashi almost went out several times, but Sakura was determined not to let it. Using Iruka's chakra to amplify her already generous supply, she slowly, forcefully dragged Kakashi back to life. Just as his chakra levels began to raise very slightly, the medic nins appeared in the clearing. The last thing Iruka remembered was hearing Tsunade's voice telling him to let go, to break off before it was too late, then darkness swallowed him up.

He awoke three days later in the hospital. Before his eyes were even open all the way, Naruto was leaning over him, grasping his hand firmly. "He's alive. Kakashi's alive," the young man said firmly before Iruka could even form the question. Relief flooded through him, making him dizzy. Naruto leaned forward, concerned, but Iruka gestured at him to continue the story.

Apparently Kakashi now owed his life to his former student. Sakura had saved him, pouring so much of her own chakra into his almost lifeless body that she was still been in a coma. Kakashi was unconscious also and there was no way of knowing how long he would stay that way or if he would ever wake up. Tsunade had been unable to save his leg or his fingers.

Iruka was released after another night of rest, but he did not wanted to leave Kakashi alone in the hospital. The nurses were kind and set up a cot for him and he left the hospital only to go to work. A steady stream of visitors came by to see Kakashi. It heartened Iruka to see how many lives his reserved lover had touched.

Sakura woke up three weeks later. Two weeks after that Kakashi's eyes finally fluttered open and he struggled to focus on Iruka's face. He seemed to know where he was, but it took another two days before he was able to speak. "Leg gone?" he croaked. Iruka nodded slowly. "Thought so. Fingers too?" He waited for the other nod and then slipped back off to sleep.

After that he had been awake for longer and longer periods and he was soon strong enough to walk around the hospital on crutches. As Kakashi healed, he asked for paper and pens and spent the long hours while Iruka was at work industriously writing. He wouldn't show Iruka his work however, saying, with a twinkle in his visible eye, that it was a surprise. Whatever the writing was, it seemed to be good for him. A month after he awoke from the coma, Kakashi was able to leave the hospital and go home.

Iruka was the first person to realize that Kakashi had changed. It started with the mask. The day Kakashi had been injured the medical nins had removed it while they were working on him. When he was in a coma it seemed pointless to put it back on him, especially since no one knew if he was ever even going to wake up to care that it was missing. Two days after he came out of the coma, Iruka had brought him a fresh mask from home. Kakashi had held it in his hands for a long time, staring down at it. Then he looked up at Iruka with a dazzling smile and handed the mask back to him, saying, "Thanks, but I don't think I need it anymore." That was when he began to grow the goatee.

Kakashi's life as a jounin was over now and that was what worried everyone the most. Tsunade was afraid that the stress would push Kakashi over the edge, but, as Iruka tried to tell her several times, Kakashi didn't seem depressed or dangerous at all. Iruka had seen Kakashi angry, he'd seen him sad, but this was Kakashi thoughtful. He seemed to be spending a lot of time working out who he was now and getting used to his new, artificial limb.

There was now a lightness to Kakashi, as if he was no longer worried about anything very important. Iruka had helped him pack away his uniform, hitai-ate, and mask in a box which they stored under the bed. Kakashi had been quiet while they did the packing, but once the box was hidden, he had pulled Iruka toward him and tickled and kissed him until they were both giggling madly. That evening, Kakashi got Sakura to help him pick out a whole new wardrobe of civilian clothes.

Not believing Iruka's stories of a happy, calm Kakashi, Tsunade assigned ANBU soldiers to follow them and to watch the house. After nine months of this, they were both thoroughly sick of being tailed, but she didn't back down until Jiraiya intervened. He sent her a letter and a bulky package. The package contained the newest volume of Icha Icha, written by one Hatake Kakashi. The letter explained that Jiraiya was stepping down as principle writer to focus more on editing duties and marketing of the popular Icha Icha line. Kakashi had been hired as writer based on the script he'd been working on during his recovery. Jiraiya went on to say that he would appreciate it if Tsunade would cease having his talent followed as it was interfering with the creative process. At this Tsunade snorted in disgust and shouted to anyone who would listen that Iruka shouldn't come complaining to her if Kakashi tried to murder everyone in their sleep because she was washing her hands of the whole affair. She kept the book, though, and later on asked Kakashi to sign it. He did and even dedicated the next volume to her and Sakura as thanks for their efforts to heal him.

Three years after the incident, while at dinner at their favorite restaurant, Kakashi told Iruka he had a surprise for him. Walking to the empty store next door, Kakashi produced a key and unlocked the door. It opened into a large room with a lot of windows and a wide counter along one wall. It was dusty and hadn't been used for a long time, but Iruka could tell that the place was in good condition. Kakashi walked behind the counter and lifted up a large piece of wood. Painted on it was a large picture of a man lounging in a chair reading a book. Surrounding him were the words "Hatake & Umino, Booksellers."

Kakashi nervously glanced at Iruka who was gawping at the sign. "What do you think? I thought I could run the store during the day, but I wanted you to be a part of it also. I know you're busy with school, but…" His voice trailed off uncertainly.

Iruka stared for a moment more and then beamed up at him. "I love it! And I'd love to. It's a wonderful idea."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Okay, then what about this?" Kakashi rummaged in his pocket, finally pulling out a small box. Holding it out to Iruka, he opened it to reveal two gold rings. "I don't want to make the mistake that Asuma made, of not making you mine permanently and publicly. It's silly, I know. Our friends all know we're together, but I want everyone to know. I want them to see it on our hands, forever."

He broke off then to wrap his arms around Iruka, who was nodding his acceptance, unable to speak. The brown-haired man sobbed into Kakashi's shoulder, happiness forcing tears out of him for the first time since he'd stepped into that blood-splattered clearing three years previously.


	3. Epilogue

"Here it is!" Kakashi shouted, returning from rummaging in the storeroom. In his arms was a large box with a garish yellow wrapping paper and a green bow. Iruka wondered if Gai had had a hand in wrapping it.

Shoving the box into Iruka's hands, Kakashi beamed at him. Blushing slightly, Iruka carefully opened his present, taking great pains to tear the wrapping paper so that they would not be able to use it again. Lifting the lid off of the box, he discovered a tasteful black leather bag. It had a long strap and handles, so he could carry it either over his shoulder or in his hand. There was plenty of room for his scrolls and papers and books, plus compartments for his day planner, pens, and all the other stuff he needed for work.

As Iruka picked it up to admire it more closely, he saw that stitched on it in blue thread in neat kanji were the words "Umino Iruka." His eyes misted briefly and he looked up at his husband. "Thank you. It's perfect."

Kakashi smiled proudly. "I knew you'd like it. You needed a new bag. Your old one was worn out and I thought you should have something fitting an Academy principal."

Iruka carefully set the bag down on the counter and moved to wrap his arms around Kakashi. He hugged him tightly, burying his nose in the white hair and breathing deeply of the man's scent. As he did every day and every night, Iruka thanked whatever gods there were for returning Kakashi to him.

A small, traitorous part of himself also thanked that missing nin. Her trap had severed more than flesh and bone. It had broken the chains which had tied Kakashi to Konoha and freed him. A leg and some fingers were a small price to pay for that freedom, Iruka thought, and he'd bet both of his own legs that Kakashi felt the same way.

Unaware of his pensive thoughts, Kakashi took advantage of Iruka's inattention by groping his butt. Then he firmly kissed away the teacher's protests until his tan cheeks were flushed with pink. Letting go slowly, Kakashi gave Iruka a gentle shove. "Go get to work. You'll be home by six?" Iruka nodded. "Good, then we'll have time for a nice dinner out. Last one before I lose you to the craziness of the school year." He grinned and winked to take the sting out of his words. "I love you, Iruka-sama."

Iruka reluctantly headed for the door. "I love you, too, Kakashi-kun. Have a good day."

Kakashi beamed. "I will." And whistling, he turned back to work with his beloved books.


End file.
